When school ends in June, Darlene Gescher of Stayton will turn in her keys to First Student transport. The popular school bus driver is retiring after 45 years of driving students, including the great-grandchildren of some of her 1968-69 students, to schools in Sublimity and Stayton.
In 2003, she was named Oregon School Bus Driver of the Year by the Oregon Pupil Transportation Association. She has taught many students to ride a bus safely through her “Safety Song,” which all her kindergarteners learn to sing.
Gescher enjoys her family and plans to do some traveling.
